UF/IFAS Apps Give Irrigation, Growing Tips and More

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Looking to save money and water when you irrigate? Scientists at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have developed an app for that. Want to know what plants to grow in your garden? You guessed it: UF/IFAS has an app for that as well.

UF/IFAS’ so-called “smart irrigation apps” include an urban lawn app that estimates how long you’ll need to water your lawn to meet current plant water demand. It uses a simplified approach for automated irrigation systems. This urban lawn model uses meteorological data to compute a simple, real-time weekly water balance, said Kati Migliaccio, UF/IFAS associate professor in agricultural and biological engineering and lead designer of the app. Find these apps and others at smartirrigationapps.org.

“The turf app provides a free resource to determine a schedule to apply the right amount of water to landscapes, which is personalized based on user inputs,” Migliaccio said.

Other faculty involved in the UF/IFAS smart irrigation apps are:

  • Clyde Fraisse, associate professor in agricultural and biological engineering at UF/IFAS
  • Kelly Morgan, associate professor in soil and water science at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center
  • George Vellidis, professor in crop and soil sciences at the University of Georgia

See the original article from Newswise here.